From a young age, I could draw very well. As soon as my parents recognized this innate talent, they enrolled me in after-school art classes. I learned to work with charcoal, pastels, pencil, pen & ink, colored inks, and oil painting. I discovered I had an uncanny ability to recreate whatever was in front of me.
At home, I occupied myself with anything I could find in my Dad’s garage — hammer, nails, handsaw — anything I could use to “make things.” It is a bit of a running joke in my family that for my 10th birthday, I received a kid-sized workbench complete with kid-sized tools — just what every little Jewish girl wants. The funny thing is that here I am 30+ years later with a working studio complete with not-so-kid-sized tools that I use in constructing frames and mixed media works. I am grateful my parents supported what must have seemed like an odd interest at the time.
Years later, it was time to apply to college. I was an excellent student destined for law/med school but I still felt impassioned about “making things” so I convinced my parents to let me go to art school. A deal was struck that I would study commercial art of some kind so that they would not be supporting me for the rest of my life. I studied Graphic Design and Photography at the University of Michigan where I earned my BFA. I experimented with photo processes such as palladium printing, cyanotype, salt printing, etc. and under the influence of photography professor Joanne Leonard, began experimenting with layered images, and combining words and images… and was hooked.
After graduating, I returned to my hometown of Miami where I worked as part of a team designing signage and graphics for Universal Studios and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines among others. I broadened my experience by art directing at a printing company where I gained valuable working knowledge of developing technologies and processes. In 1993, I started my own design company Orange Star Design and have worked on and led projects for clients as large as ALLTEL, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The American Cancer Society, and Styx — and as varied as environmental graphics, logos & corporate identities, concert/tour merchandise, event graphics, publications, websites, promotional email & print campaigns, and mobile apps.
I have been a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science (the Grammys) the Adobe Creative Advisory Panel, and AIGA.
Erica Jong once said:
“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.”
I am happy and proud that I have taken my childhood urge to “make things” and followed that talent with courage resulting in a successful creative career that I enjoy.
Today, I still carry the fire about mixing words and images and experimental processes and sometimes it even creeps into my graphic design work. I am an avid photographer and mixed media artist and frequently participate in art festivals in and around Atlanta, GA where I live. When I am not in my studio, I can be found wandering about with my cameras or being walked by my ginormous dogs.
I co-wrote a book!
The Adventure of an Ingenious Life
Astonishing. Unique. Odd. These are just a few words someone might use to describe an ingenious life. Others might say it's an adventure ripe with fascinating people and interesting exploits. The authors of this book believe that the first step is an intention. What would you like to experience? How do you want to be remembered? Every life is filled with opportunities to choose. Whether your current road is one of ease or lined with difficulty, it will soon fork. You'll have the chance to opt again. Are your values being supported by your decisions? Are you flexible? Adaptable? Are you fueled by a passion?
Join authors Traci Long DeForge, Robert David Duncan, Rebecca Ewing, Jodi Hersh, Vanessa Lowry, Ricia L. Maxie, Andrea Schlapia, and Renee Seals, along with more than forty additional contributors. Each walked through a door—or several—to fashion the life they each have chosen. Learn from their stories and give yourself permission to embrace your already creative self—or finally move into a life of your own invention.
Here is an excerpt from my chapter:
Sometimes you don’t know you’re on the right path until you are far enough along to look back. I never wanted to do anything other than make things and I never could have planned the trajectory that got me here. Looking back, of course it was right, it worked.
Twenty years ago, at the age of twenty-five, I took a risk and became a self-employed graphic designer. There was no big plan, I just thought that I could work fewer hours and have more time and resources for my art. As a designer, I have been very successful, but twenty years is a long time, and it has given me cause to reflect. What I didn’t anticipate was how busy I would become, and how hard it would be to also pursue my projects. It requires a lot of effort—you must structure your work and personal life in order to have time and energy to create.
You don’t need permission. Find what makes you happy, what drives you, and do it. Every day. Follow wherever it leads you.